Sugar free, flour free peanut butter chocolate “cookies”

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Last night was New Year’s Eve and lots of food was being consumed while we waited for the ball to drop.  There were lots of finger foods and such and I decided to try my hand at a low carb cookie substitute.  I had never tried this before, but how hard could it be?  It was super easy, took very little time and were an absolute hit with everyone.  Here are the ingredients you need:

8 oz cream cheese, softened,

one egg,

teaspoon vanilla extract,

1/3 cup granulated Splenda,

2 heaping tablespoons all natural, unsweetened peanut butter,

one package of sugar free chocolate covered peanuts.

Here’s what you do.  Put the cream cheese, vanilla, Splenda and egg in a bowl and mix until thoroughly creamy.  Add in the peanut butter mix together again.  Coat a cookie sheet with butter and spoon out teaspoon size drops of batter onto the sheet.  Garnish each cookie drop with one chocolate covered peanut.  Place in the oven on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Cookies before going into the oven

Cookies fresh out of the oven

Looking back on New Year’s Resolutions

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A year ago I was excited to begin a new year.  New Year’s Day has always held a special place with me.  There is just something about getting to wipe the slate clean and start all over.  I wish more people would take the time to reflect on the power of such a simple thing.  Last year I had a lot of hope, but didn’t know exactly what would happen this year.  I could not imagine the twists and turns that this journey of mine would take.

I resolved last year to hit an all time low weight of 165 lbs.  I didn’t quite make that, I missed by about 10 pounds.  I am not disappointed in any way.  I am super excited to be the smallest I have ever been in my adult life while carrying around the most muscle also.  This year I am going to focus on putting on more muscle and trying to get as lean as possible.  I don’t really have a body fat percentage that I am shooting for,  but flat abs would be nice.  We will see how that goes.

Last year I said that one of my biggest goals was to run a 10k race.  I look back at when I was thinking that and I just laugh.  I really had no idea what I was capable of.  That was the biggest thing I could imagine back then.  10k is just over 6 miles.   typically run that amount a couple of times a week.  I ran a half marathon back in the spring.  There are several races that I am looking at for this year.  I’ll let you know what I decide on, but let’s just say it will challenge my ideas about what is possible once again.

Another thing that I could not have guessed last year is the amount of people in my life that have decided to get healthy and lose weight.  Members of my family, close friends, friends that I just met this year.  I can’t tell you how rewarding and humbling it is to have someone watch what you are doing and decide that they also want to take their life back.  I am truly honored to be the “hard core diet guy” that some of my friends refer to me as.  I wear that badge with honor.

I am expecting big things for 2012.  I am on this journey for life and I know there are stories to be told that none of us could imagine are possible.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.  Here’s to a new year full of incomprehensible possibilities!

Old habits die hard, but there’s always tomorrow

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The holidays bring about all sorts of good things.  Family and friends get together to share a little bit of joy and happiness.  This time of year we tend to let hard feelings go and put aside grudges.  All in all, good things.  But with that feeling of benevolence often comes compromise and letting our guard down in regard to our diet.

As the proverb says, It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine.  You might say “oh one cookie won’t hurt”, or maybe that slice of cheesecake surely won’t do any harm.  I mean, you worked hard all year right?  Don’t you deserve to splurge a little?  Well that all depends.  I am in no way saying that you must be a slave to your diet.  You do need times where you can indulge a little, especially in times and situations with family and friends.  Some times and occasions call for celebration.  The problem is that when we have a holiday season that starts in the third week of November and lasts until January 1.  All of a sudden you look at the new year and realize that the months and months of work have all come unraveled and old habits have taken root right where they used to be.

The biggest lesson for me throughout this whole journey is that I am not a slave to food.  I would encourage you to be mindful of what you are doing and eating, always.  Have those times of celebration, but the very next day renew your pledge to be the new you.

Resolutions aren’t for New Years Day.  Resolutions are for every day.

The benefits of getting up and moving

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Reluctant Runners posted this.  What do you think?

We talk a lot about our diet being 80% of the battle.  I have said this frequently myself.  But which battle?  I have come to terms with the fact that this journey is about so much more than weight loss.  Weight loss IS incredibly important, but not the only measure of success.  Give me 9 minutes of your time and tell me what you think.

 

The best Christmas gift

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This time of year brings about a lot of hustle and bustle.  We get caught up in the trappings of gift buying and parties and gatherings and next month we will look back at all the commotion and the things that we bought that are sitting on the shelf and wonder why we went through all the trouble.

I am looking at Christmas this year through a different lense.  I have talked all year about the change that I made in my life.  You all have heard the story over and over.  But the truth of the situation remains.  I am here for another year.  I am healthy and I am plugged in and engaged in my life and the lives of my family.  I have given a gift that I could never buy, and in return I am able to enjoy the gift of having the amazing family that I have.

Once again we are reminded just how short life is.  My wife found out this morning that a childhood friend of hers was killed in an accident.  We are all heartbroken for the loss to his family.  It is very sobering to realize just how fragile it is to hold this thing called life.

While accidents cannot always be avoided, how many things can we take control and responsibility for?  Give the gift to your family and friends that no one else can give and that no amount of money can buy.  Gift the gift of a healthy and engaged you.

STOP TRYING!

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I was reminded this morning of this clip from “The Empire Strikes Back”.  Luke is trying to get his fighter out of the swamp but keeps making excuses for why he can’t do it.  He tells Yoda that he IS TRYING and Yoda famously tells him

“Do or Do not. There is no try.”

I can’t begin to tell you how many times that my life was stuck nose down in the swamp just like Luke’s fighter was.  And I cannot begin to tell you how many times I made excuses for not taking charge of my own situation and destiny and doing something about it.  When we set out to try to do something, we immediately give ourselves permission to fail, and to be OK with that.  It was not until I stopped trying and resolved to not take no for an answer did I get my life back.  October 15, 2010 was the day I became fit and in shape.  That was the day I became a marathoner.  That was the day I became a healthy person.  It didn’t look like it on the outside.  I was still fat and miserable.  The difference is that I stopped trying and decided that I would make a difference.  That day I became the captain of my destiny and the only person to blame for my failings was me.

I hear from people all the time that make excuses for being unhealthy and out of shape.  This program didn’t work, or their home situation is not conducive to being healthy or their work schedule is hectic.  Stop making excuses.  I “tried” to lose weight for years.  And I always looked for that one thing that would be my “out”.  From now on, I will not try.  Do or do not, but there is no try.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley

Monday Soup

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Happy Monday!

Check out this inspiring video.  Makes me feel a little inadequate…..lol

CNN had a story today that I found intriguing.  We seem to get really hung up on body fat percentages and weight, but it might be possible that our activity level is a better indication of life and longevity than carrying around a few extra pounds.  That does not give you the freedom to go back to eating twinkies, but having some intense exercise nearly everyday is probably going to help you have a longer, fuller life.   Read the article here.

I blogged a while back about this crazy mystery illness I had last month.  I came down with some sort of upper respiratory infection that would not let go of me.  I went to the doctor, took antibiotics and also supplemented with massive amounts of vitamin D.  Nothing seemed to work.  I coughed constantly and lost my voice completely for quite a while.  I took the entire Thanksgiving week off from work and just focused on resting and being with my family.  I gradually got better and am now feeling back to 100%.

During the vacation, I felt like exercising again.  I had not been able to run for the better part of 3 weeks.  I got out of the house to put in some light jogs to get to stretch out again.  I took one of my kids with me each time.  What an awesome gift to be able to have your kids with you.  This time last year I would not have been able to do that.  I realized just how much I had missed out on all those years that I could not keep up with them.  All of them are very athletic and it was amazing to see my 12 year old lace up her shoes and put in nearly 3 miles non-stop on her first outing!  My 13 year old put in 6 miles on a trail run as well as a 3 miler downtown.  My 16 year old and I put in a 7.5 mile trail run.  As a dad, I am extremely proud of them.  I realize that my example to them is very important.  Each day I have to put in the work, not only for me, but to set the bar for them.

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away.  This time of year it is very easy to slip into a pattern of cheating.  Having just one cookie here, or drinking one more egg nog, or having one piece of pie usually leads to having another and another.  Give yourself a gift this year.  Decide to say no to those temptations so that in January you don’t have to carry that guilt around.  Trust me, the pie is not worth it.

 

 

 

Time for resolutions

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Today is 4 weeks until 2012.  Since I don’t like New Years resolutions, I am going to set a goal now.  I am going to go meticulously watch my diet and try to drop a few more pounds before the year is done.  I am going to go pretty strictly low carb for the next few weeks and try to shed out the last bit of flab I have been carrying.  I’ll be posting about my progress.

Are you planning any goals for the upcoming year?

Living Simply

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The last year has been an amazing journey.  The most obvious thing has been my weight loss.  Dropping around 130 pounds, running a half marathon, wearing clothes I only dreamed about fitting into, and the list goes on.  But there are a lot of other things that have changed that maybe aren’t so obvious.

By getting my addictions to bad food under control and taking responsibility for myself, I was able to see other things in my life that I needed to work on.  I have said so many times before that if you are a fat jerk and lose 100 pounds, you will just be a skinny jerk.  What are you going to do about the person that you really are underneath the fat you are hiding behind?

The biggest lesson I think I have learned this year is to live simply.  What does that have to do with health and weight loss or anything for that matter?  Well, I realized that I have a tendency to cover things up with newer bigger better.  If I feel like crap, I want an exotic meal with new tastes, and to fill myself to the brim with it.  Or I want to absorb myself in TV and kind of forget about the world.  I have a tendency to smooth over the problem with “things”.

By deciding to take responsibility for my life I was forced to look at the very core issues of who I am and why I do the things I do.  I decided to not keep on living on auto pilot.  I have the most supportive family anyone could ask for.  We do everything as a family.  We are extremely close.  So when I decided to follow a “real foods” diet, the whole family did it.  Not to say that my wife and kids don’t have more room to indulge than I do, and none of us are perfect, but they are extremely supportive and there never was any sort of stress or friction because I wanted to change the way I eat.  So we stopped buying junk and focused mostly on building meals based on quality meat and vegetables.  I love to eat and I love to cook, but I have taught myself the joy of cooking simple meals that are good fuel for our bodies.  The enjoyment comes from sharing with each other around the table and not necessarily from making the richest, most exotic foods.  At the end of the day, food is fuel.

Another way we have simplified is by cancelling our cable subscription.  We have high speed internet at home and a netflix subscription.  We have one TV show that we watch regularly, Parenthood, which comes on a local broadcast channel.  We don’t sit quietly in front of the tv for hours just flipping through hundreds of channels aimlessly.  We have picked a few TV series on Netflix and watched through them, but always intentionally.  The TV isn’t the “go to” place where everyone gathers.  This has taught me to be more present.  You don’t have to be entertained all the time.  I am learning to open my eyes to what is going on around me and to be a participant in my life and not just a spectator.

These are just a few of the ways I am learning to simplify.  I will share more if anyone is interested.

Why did I do all this work when I could have just taken a weight loss drug?

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Sunday night, I was sitting at our church’s Harvest Supper and my friend Brandon (follow him on twitter, @district5fca, he’s a great guy) and I were eating copious amounts of “real food”.  Brandon asks if I have ever googled “Alli horror stories”, and I said no.  But the smirk on his face let me know that this was going to be good.  Yesterday I opened up a browser and did the obligatory googling and wow did I find a bevy of entertainment.

What I found out is that people will go to any length to lose weight.  What they apparently aren’t willing to do is eat real food and get up and move around.  Why did I go through all the trouble of breaking food addictions, addressing areas in my life where I was not living with integrity, putting my body through the pain of workouts even when I didn’t feel like it, and eventually changing my life when all I apparently had to do was take a weight loss drug.  You see, I could have avoided all that pain and gut wrenching self examination and just popped a pill.  The best part is I could have enjoyed these glorious side effects:

  • gas with oily spotting,
  • loose stools
  • more frequent stools that may be hard to control
Just think, eat only good, whole foods that are actually healing my body, or stay VERY close to a bathroom for 6 months and only wear dark pants.  If only I had it to do over again…………….